Warmth in Winter
by The Flippant Writer
Summary: Even during the most painfully cold time of the year, people find it in themselves to share a bit of their warmth with each other.
1. Marshmallows

Warmth in Winter

Chapter One

Disclaimer: RWBY is the intellectual property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I claim no ownership.

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On bench on Beacon grounds, there sat one Weiss Schnee. She was clothed in warm, but professionally stylish clothing and enjoying the last hours of Fall's display.

Winter had arrived in Vytal. The cold temperatures of Fall had begun to drop even further and snow was expected to appear within the week. As it were, though, the ground was currently covered in the dry leaves.

And that was just fine for Weiss. As long as there was no snow, it wasn't 'officially' Winter. Weiss hated Winter.

Winter represented lies. It represented polite falsities and bitter reality. People claimed to love Winter, but when the snow arrived they always retreated to the warmth. They were hypocrites in Weiss' eyes. Nothing but liars who put on a show of loving Winter, but the moment the biting cold appears, they turn tail and run. They don't love Winter. They don't even really care about Winter. They just like how Winter looks from afar.

But Weiss loved snow. It may sound paradoxical, but she did.

If Winter was lies, then the snow was truth. It chased away the liars. It never changed just because people didn't like it. Snow would always be a part of Winter. One could never change it no matter how hard they tried.

"Hey! Weiss!"

The ivory-skinned girl turned to look at who had called her. It was Ruby, who looked a tad under-dressed for the season. The only sign that she was even aware of the temperature was the red scarf wrapped around her neck and the red mittens that covered her hands. In each of those hands was a steaming mug. Ruby quickly approached Weiss and thrust one of the mugs in her face. Small, white marshmallows floated on the surface and the sweet smell of chocolate wafted into her nose.

Of course she would make hot chocolate. That girl's sweet tooth was insatiable.

"And what is this for?" Weiss inquired, quirking an eyebrow at her leader.

"Because hot chocolate is warm and it's cold out here?" Ruby half-asked, half-stated, as though confused why Weiss would ask such a question.

Seeing that that line of questioning would get her no where, Weiss changed her wording. "I mean, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh, Blake told me you went out for some alone time, so I decided to give you some company," Ruby said with a perky grin. There was zero trace of sarcasm in her voice and her face was as obliviously sincere as ever.

Weiss' face, on the other hand, was deadpan. "So you came to give me company during my _alone_ time," she stated slowly. There was no need to ask.

"Yep!" the petite preteen responded obliviously. Then her brow furrowed and her smile turned into a contemplative frown. Finally comprehension seemed to dawn on her face. "Ohhhhh..."

The Schnee heiress rolled her eyes and gently grasped the hot mug in front of her. "Well, you might as well give me company since you're already here."

Ruby grinned and promptly took a seat next to Weiss. Rather than immediately jumping into conversation like she normally would, she began drinking from her cup of hot chocolate. It seemed Ruby was starting to get a grasp of how to act around Weiss. As Weiss began carefully sipping from her own mug, she noticed something. Rather than the numerous small marshmallows that were in her own mug, Ruby seemed to have one large marshmallow sitting in the steaming chocolate.

"Ruby," she began, seizing the topic the observation had offered. "Why did you get me different marshmallows?"

Despite her innocent intent behind the inquiry, it still came out as slightly snooty. Ruby, though, didn't even bat an eye. She just responded as though anyone else had asked the question without sounding stuck-up.

"Well, I figured since you're all gamey and stuff, I'd get you the smaller ones," she remarked.

"I'm game- ? You dunce, the word is 'dainty'!" Weiss snapped. There was no real heat behind her words, though. "And I am _not_ dainty. I'm _refined_."

Weiss didn't really care all that much. She did, in fact, prefer the smaller marshmallows. She wasn't even really mad about being called dainty. And Ruby seemed to understand that on some basic level. She didn't snap back at Weiss. She didn't glare at her. She didn't even look put out. All she did was shrug and smile sheepishly.

For Weiss, it was among the greatest combination of gestures anyone could ever offer her.

One could never change how snow was. You could either accept it, or leave it. Most chose to leave it. But that was just fine.

Weiss drank a little deeper from her hot chocolate now that it had cooled off a little. She also hoped to combat the smile that threatened to appear on her face as a result of the girl right next to her.

Those who left the snow just make the ones who accepted it all the more special.

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**A/N:**** Just the start of a four-parter I'm writing in between Heart's Desires. I wanted to make something for the holiday season and voila, this came up. This chapter is mostly friendship but I suppose it could be construed as Pink if you believe really hard.**

**Next up: Blake and Yang.**


	2. Snow

Warmth in Winter

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: RWBY is the intellectual property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I claim no ownership.

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"C'mon, Blake~."

"No, thank you."

"Aww, why not?"

"Because I'd rather sit here where it's warm and read my book."

"You just don't want to play in the snow 'cause you're a cat."

Blake's cat ears twitched in irritation. This wasn't the first time Yang had made quips about her feline traits. "Me being a feline Faunus has nothing to do with it. I'd just rather sit here and read my book." There was a second of pause for effect. "In _peace_."

Yang pouted at her from her upside down position. The busty blonde was hanging halfway from her top bunk as she pestered Blake, who was reclining on her own bed and reading.

"So mean, Blake. I'm just trying to get you to have fun."

"I _am_ having fun, Yang. It's just a different kind of fun," Blake responded passively.

Yang blew out an exaggerated sigh and fell quiet. Blake, grateful for the lack of noise, continued reading her book. There was a long moment of silence, broken only by the occasional turn of a page.

Finally, it seemed that Yang had had enough of the boring atmosphere. She flipped off the top bunk and walked out of the room, leaving Blake alone. The Faunus couldn't help but quirk a smile at her exit. Yang meant well, but she just didn't share all of her interests. They were too different. In fact, they shared hardly any similarities at all.

Yang was brash, and lively. Blake was thoughtful, and cool-headed.

Yang wanted to always be doing something. Blake was perfectly content just sitting down and relaxing.

Yang was blonde. Blake was ravenette.

Yang always lightened up the mood with upbeat sarcasm. Blake was fine letting everyone soak in reality.

Yang was the light. Bright, and shining, and warm. She brought life.

Blake was the dark. Deep and foreboding. Her presence spoke not of pleasant omens.

Yang was everything Blake was not. And she could not be more grateful for the upbeat girl's presence. Yang is Blake's light. Her silver lining. One of the few threads that keeps her anchored. A solid rock that Blake could cling to and remind herself that there is someone out there who cares for her.

The blonde had accepted Blake in seconds. She had no special reason to, they didn't know each other. She wasn't under orders, Yang could have easily just ignored Ozpin's words and ditched her in the forest. She did not care about any benefits Blake might offer her, she didn't ask a single thing about her abilities or connections. She accepted her simply because there wasn't a reason not to. It was such a simple concept, but it meant so much to the amber-eyed girl. She would never be able to properly express her gratitude to Yang.

Then a snowball smacked Blake in the face.

"Gotcha!" shouted a voice she recognized all too well. It was a voice that had been in the room not ten minutes prior.

For one long moment, Blake just stared at her book through the snow covering her face. She slowly lifted her head to regard the form standing in the doorway. It was Yang, standing tall and proud, a triumphant grin on her face. On the floor behind her was a portable cooler, and bouncing in her hand was another snowball. "How d'ya like them apples?" the brawler asked cheekily.

Blake stared at her flatly - as flat as one could look with snow covering their face - for a few seconds longer. Finally she could no longer hold back, and a light smile blossomed on her face.

"How mature, Yang," she said. She set her book off to the side and quickly gathered the snow that was on her face and torso. "But two can play at this game." Yang's grin seemed to get wider in response.

"That's the plan."

Twenty minutes later, they were both seated in Professor Goodwitch's office. Both of them were splattered with snow and being given a stern lecture about how inappropriate it is to have snowball fights in the halls of a prestigious academy.

Even as they were getting reamed by the stern witch, though, they had trouble wiping the smiles off of their faces. Especially when they glanced at each other.

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**A/N:**** Eh, it's my first time writing Yang and Blake together. It's actually my first time writing Blake, period. I hope I did her justice.**

**In related news, I'm beginning to think I have Gabe Newell Syndrome. I'm incapable of getting that third chapter out before starting new stuff.**

**Kinetic, out.**


	3. Tree

Warmth in Winter

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: RWBY is the intellectual property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. I claim no ownership.

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Nora did a lot of things that didn't make sense. More often than not, she only dragged Ren along with her. Ren, however, was out to buy some seasonal tea leaves. That would usually be fine. Though she preferred to be with her longtime friend, hanging out with Pyrrha ran a close second. Pyrrha had left on her own to brush up on her skills, though.

Which left Jaune to be her partner-in-crime for the day.

"I still don't get it, Nora," the blond swordsman told his teammate as he handed her another colored glass orb.

"What's not to get? We're decorating a tree!"

Said teammate was indeed decorating a pine tree she had randomly dragged into their room that morning. It was already adorned with multi-colored lights, and Nora was in the middle of hanging glass baubles from its thin branches.

"Yeah, but..._why_ are we decorating a tree?"

"Because it's Winter, silly!"

Jaune's confusion remained unresolved. It wasn't like he hated doing this, though. It was actually fun, if confounding. He just really wanted to know why she felt compelled to do this.

"No, Nora, I mean _why_ do we have to decorate a tree during Winter?"

Nora's response was as perky as it was vague, "Because it's tradition!"

Jaune sighed in resignation. Apparently he wasn't going to get a straight answer from the hyperactive girl. So he simply remained quiet and helped his teammate finish decorating the tree. When at last they had finished, Nora clapped her hands of dust and then set them akimbo.

"Great work, Junior Assistant Under Secretary!" she proclaimed proudly.

"Junior Assis-...? Nevermind." Jaune was quickly learning that trying to understand the orangette was an impossible task. He just tousled his hair tiredly and gazed upon the beautifully decorated tree. Nonsensical though it may be, Nora seemed to be onto something with this tree business.

"Thanks, Jaune. You're a good leader," Nora suddenly said.

Jaune felt embarrassment creep up on his cheeks at the compliment and he hastily tried to rebuff it. "Not really, I just- " A playful elbow to his side cut him off. Playful for Nora, that is. It had Jaune hunching over slightly and grabbing his side in a vain effort to ease the pain. Nora didn't even seem to notice as she spoke.

"You should really just be happy about compliments," she said with a bright smile. "You're a good guy, Jaune. There's not lots of people who would do this with me. Especially if they were a leader."

The blond - still holding his side - looked at Nora, confused. She didn't even wait for him to verbally express it.

"People always call me childish, and say the things I do are a waste of time," she explained happily, as though it didn't even phase her. "But not Ren, not Pyrrha, and not you. Even though you're a bigshot leader and probably want to focus more on training, you took the time to do this with me."

Jaune averted his eyes and tousled his hair. "I didn't really look at it like that..." he admitted.

"Exactly," Nora chirped, but didn't expound. Then her face lit up with realization. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

The hyperactive girl ran off and dove into her belongings. After a moment of searching through her bags, she resurfaced with a plain box. She skipped back towards Jaune and thrust the box towards him. "Here, you do it!"

The boy hesitantly accepted the box. After looking at it for a moment longer, he opened it up to see what was inside. There, nestled safely among soft padding, was a bright silver star upon what seemed to be a mount of some kind. He carefully lifted the star out of its container and looked at Nora inquisitively.

She pointed towards the tree. "It goes on the top," she explained.

Jaune looked at the beautiful ornament on his hand and then back at Nora before making his way towards the tree. He stood precariously on the tips of his toes to try and place the star when he suddenly found himself lifted up into the air. Looking down, he found himself seated on Nora's shoulders. The girl smiled up at him from between his legs, not looking even remotely strained by having to support his weight. Jaune smiled back sheepishly before returning his attention to the tree, now that the top was within his reach.

Reaching forward, he gently placed the silver star on the peak. Nora, with her incredible strength, lifted him up and off her shoulders by his waist before setting him back down. The task completed, they both took the time to gaze at the magnificent tree that decorated their room. There was a comfortable silence between them that seemed to last an eternity. Eventually, though, Jaune broke it.

"So, are you ever going to explain this?"

Nora grinned. "Does it need to be explained?" she asked without looking at him.

Jaune looked at her in surprise for a moment before smiling and looking back at the tree.

"No...I guess it doesn't."

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**A/N:**** Surprise Jaune/Nora friendship chapter! I was debating between this and an Arkos chapter for a while. In the end, I decided to try something new. I hope you enjoyed it.**


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